CHICAGO — In the first half of the season, Kyle Kendrick was in a pretty close race with Cliff Lee as the Phillies’ best starting pitcher. In late June he had an ERA of 3.46 and had made quality starts in 12 of his 15 appearances.

Since then, he has been Joe Blanton. And that doesn’t mean he’s been hitting postseason home runs, either.

Kendrick continued to see opponents pile up hits and bloat his ERA Sunday, this time getting hit hard for six innings by the Cubs in the Phils’ 7-1 loss at Wrigley Field.

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For the sixth time in his nine starts since the All-Star break, Kendrick allowed four or more runs -- five, in fact, with three coming in the fourth inning when the Nos. 6-7-8 hitters in Chicago’s lineup opened the frame with a single, double and double.

Just three of the 18 outs Kendrick recorded were on the ground, the type of imbalance in numbers that is foreboding for a sinker pitcher like Kendrick. As his outings have gotten less impressive, his line-drive rate has grown significantly compared to the first half.

“Today, he just didn’t have his two-seam fastball that he can throw to the front side of left-handed hitters and get right-handed hitters to hit ground balls,” manager Ryne Sandberg said. “The result was 11 fly-ball outs and (three) ground-ball outs. With men on base, he couldn’t get grounders for double plays and was pitching at thigh-level without any sink to it. And those balls got hit in the gaps with men on base.”

Kendrick has been in a state of denial about his significant drop in quality of late, as he somehow doesn’t grasp that leading the league in hits allowed after giving up 93 in the last 67 innings while compiling a 5.64 ERA in that span speaks to a bigger issue.

“I just have to keep pitching,” Kendrick said, dismissing Sandberg’s assessment of his MIA two-seamer. “Things will turn around sooner or later.

“I think the one inning I just fell behind in the count. (Donnie) Murphy got a base hit, then I fell behind (Brian) Bogusevic and fell behind (Welington) Castillo. If you fall behind, it’s tougher to pitch. That one inning I fell behind, and that’s what happens.”

Speaking of things that are falling, Kendrick’s asking price in arbitration over the winter is taking quite a plunge with his numbers. When his ERA was holding steady between 3 and 3.50 in the first half, it seemed the right-hander could get $8-9 million in his final arbitration year. However, if he can’t right the ship in September, Kendrick -- who signed a two-year, $7.5 million deal prior to 2012 -- he could be costing himself a couple of million easily.

“I’m going to keep taking the ball, I know that,” Kendrick said. “I’ll keep going out there and hopefully things will turn around.”

The Phillies got their only run off Cubs starter Jake Arrieta in the fourth inning when Darin Ruf hit his 12th homer of the season in to the left-center field basket. It has been an upside-down season for the right-handed-hitting Ruf, whose splits against right-handed hitters this season have been significantly better than those against southpaws -- which goes against the norm. Ruf entered the day hitting .290 and added his ninth homer against right-handers. Against lefties, he’s hitting a meek .156 with three homers. His splits at Triple-A Lehigh Valley also showed more effectiveness against right-handers, a strange turn after he torched lefties at Double-A Reading (.388, 21 HRs in 165 ABs) in 2012.

“There needs to be some improvement there against left-handed pitchers,” Sandberg said. “I don’t have an answer, really. There have been conversations about it with the hitting coaches.

“I think last year he was driving the ball to right-center and using the opposite field a little more than he has since we’ve seen him this year. A lot of the hits have been to the pull side.”

NOTES: The Phillies recalled utility players Michael Martinez and Cesar Hernandez from Lehigh Valley to occupy the roster spots vacated when Michael Young and John McDonald were traded away Saturday night. Hernandez, who was playing some center field in the minors after being primarily a second baseman for most of his pro career, will get a chance to see some time in center for the Phils, Sandberg said ... The Phils begin a homestand with three games against the Nationals starting Monday. The pitching matchups (all games 7:05): Monday, Cole Hamels (6-13, 3.58) vs. Stephen Strasburg (6-9, 2.96); Tuesday, Ethan Martin (2-3, 6.39) vs. Gio Gonzalez (8-6, 3.56); Wednesday, Roy Halladay (3-4, 7.94) vs. Jordan Zimmermann (15-8, 3.33).